Smarty Jones (born February 28, 2001) is a thoroughbred race horse, and winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

Born of a very ordinary pedigree at Someday Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the horse was named after Mildred "Smarty" Jones, the mother of co-owner Pat Chapman. The two shared a birthday, and Mrs. Chapman wanted to honor her late mother. She said the horse was a strong-willed actor from birth and her mother too was a bit of a smart aleck as a child who had gotten the nickname "Smarty." So, rather than call the horse “Mildred,” the colt got the unusual name of Smarty Jones.

Originally Pat Chapman and her husband, Roy, had hired Bobby Camac to be their trainer, but in December of 2001, Camac and his wife were shot to death by his stepson Wade Russell who was eventually convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison. This tragedy combined with Roy Chapman's failing health, resulted in the Chapmans decision to disband their small breeding operation, retaining only a few of their horses. One of these was Smarty Jones who had been a product of the breeding between their winningest horse, a mare by the name of I'll Get Along, and a sire named Elusive Quality.

In 2003, the Chapmans gave Smarty Jones to John Servis for race training. They sold the Someday Farm property and moved into a smaller home, training only four horses. In July of 2003, the horse's handlers were training him to go into a starting gate when the raucous horse reared and smashed his head and face on an iron bar then fell to the ground unconscious, blood pouring from his nostrils. His trainer thought the horse was dead, but the still-breathing animal was administered to by a veterinarian who then shipped the horse to the New Jersey Equine Clinic where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull and bones near the left eye so badly damaged that the doctors believed the eye might have to be removed. The horse overcame its injuries after three weeks in the hospital and more than a month recuperating on the farm.

John Servis carefully led him back into training and by early November of 2003, the colt had recovered completely and was ready to make his racing debut at nearby Philadelphia Park, a small racetrack in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Under Canadian-born jockey, Stewart Elliott, Smarty Jones won the six furlong race by 7 3/4 lengths. Two weeks later, the horse ran away from the field to capture the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes by 15 lengths. At that point, the owners, the trainer, and the jockey were convinced that they had an extraordinary horse on their hands.

In January of 2004, now racing as a three-year old, Smarty Jones was given his first major test against a quality field of horses in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct Raceway in New York. On the homestretch, the colt pulled away from the field to win by 5 lengths. Realizing that the Kentucky Derby was a real possibility, trainer John Servis chose to bring the horse along carefully and not push him before he was ready. As such, it was decided to take the path of least resistance to the Derby and avoid grueling races against the very best horses in the United States. In February they shipped the horse to Oaklawn Park racetrack in

Hot Springs, Arkansas where he won the Southwest Stakes, the Rebel Stakes and then the important Arkansas Derby. Despite being unbeaten in six races, Smarty Jones was nevertheless not rated as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby because racing experts believed he had not been truly tested and was untried at the Derby’s punishing 1¼ mile distance.

On May 1, 2004, while his owners looked on, Smarty Jones became the first unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977. Trainer John Servis and jockey Stewart Elliott became the first combination in twenty-five years to win the Kentucky Derby in their debut appearance. Smarty Jones won the most prestigious race in North America by 2 3/4 lengths, earning $854,800 for the Chapmans along with a bonus of $5 million from Oaklawn Park in Arkansas for having swept the Rebel Stakes, the Arkansas Derby, and the Kentucky Derby.

On May 15, Smarty Jones won the second leg of the Triple Crown with a victory at the Preakness Stakes by a record margin of 11 3/4 lengths. GNU Free Documentation License